Q. There were reports during the match on Italian TV that Andre Agassi has been decided as your coach.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: That’s what I wanted to let you guys know. I spoke to Andre the last couple weeks on the phone, and we decided to get together in Paris. So he’s gonna be there. We’ll see what future brings.

We are both excited to work together and see where it takes us. We don’t have any long-term commitment. It’s just us trying to get to know each other in Paris a little bit.

He will not stay the whole tournament. He’s gonna stay only to a certain time, and then we’ll, you know, see after that what’s gonna happen.

Q. What was it about Andre that attracted you to bring him into the camp for Paris?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, a lot of things. Obviously Andre is someone that I have tremendous respect for as a person and as a player. He has been through everything that I’m going through. You know, on the court he understands the game amazingly well. I am enjoying every conversation that I have with him.

But also, on the other hand, he’s someone that nurtures the family values, philanthropy work. He’s a very humble man, is very educated in just — you know, he’s a person that can contribute to my life on and off the court a lot. I’m very excited to see what is ahead of us.

Q. Did you know better Agassi than you knew Becker when you picked up Becker, or more or less the same? And only once you went to 30 on Zverev’s serve. Never to 40. I have never seen you losing that way on the serves.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I will answer the second question first. As I said, you know, he served very well. I just wasn’t able to get any rhythm on, you know, on my returns. He was serving I think over 70% of first serves and hitting the spots very well.

If we would get into a rally, he would just — you know, he would smash the ball from first or second shot. He played very well. I mean, there is no doubt he took away the time from me, and something that I have done yesterday well with Thiem. That’s what he did with me today.

You know, it happens. You know, he’s a big server. If he serves this well and this efficient, it’s tough to play him on any surface.

Q. And Becker and Agassi.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Yeah. Well, I talked with Andre, as I said, for the last two, two-and-a-half weeks. You know, we get to know each other over the phone for now, but in Paris we will see each other in person, and then we will take it from there.

With Boris, well, I have known him on the tour, and then, you know, I met him once. We spoke a few times on the phone, and then we met in person. That’s when it was decided for us to work.

It’s hard to say, you know. I mean, you know, I don’t know Andre that well, because it’s only a couple weeks that we are in communication, let’s say, but I already feel like we are very kind of close to each other and creating this nice vibe.

Q. Was it difficult to convince Agassi? Because he has been away from tennis. Unlike Becker, who was working on TV, Agassi sort of disappeared from this world. Was it tough to lure him back?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I persuaded him (smiling).

Q. Yeah, how did you seduce Andre?
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Not going to discover the secrets of my persuasion (smiling).

Look, you know, he’s someone that has been so successful in this sport, and he’s a legend of our sport. He’s made a mark in this sport forever. He’s won everything there is to win in tennis.

You know, he was a revolutionary player because he had this charisma, he had this, you know, approach to tennis and to life that was quite different from others. That’s why he was so interesting.

Yes, he has been away from the tour for last 10, 15 years, but speaking with him, he’s been definitely following up closely all the matches, the big matches, especially on the TV. So he knows players, he knows everyone that I was playing against in last couple of weeks, so we talked before every match, more or less.

So it was obviously his call whether or not he wants to take that step and, you know, try to work with me. He has accepted it, and I’m very grateful for that. It’s exciting, of course. I’m very happy about it.

We’ll see. You know, Paris is the first tournament where we’re going to be together in person on the court. So good times ahead.

Q. Obviously you had a mutual clearout of the rest of your team in recent weeks. Will there be anyone else joining you in Paris? I know Gil Reyes has worked with Andre in the past.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC: No, Andre will be with me in Paris and my brother, as well. That’s it for now.

I understand about Agassi, but I’d dare ask, in what capacity is the brother put in the same sentence with Andre? Channeling the energy? Re-ionizing electrons from four-dimensional superstructures? Navigating the quantum soup of love and passion?

Can’t agree more with Temple, can’t stand a sight of Marko in Nole’s box, his T-shirts and sweaters with a heart and logo of Pepe’s and his sect, yes, it’s officially their sect and he is advertising it using Nole’s box and his popularity. The thing I don’t understand is why Nole is letting him doing that and using him for their benefits..unless he is part of them?!
They both know the opinion of 90% of his fan back home about Pepe and his sect and yet, by Marko wearing insignia of the same they are purposely sticking the finger in the eye of Nole’s fans back home.
I spoke with my nephew last night, him and his friends are in disbelief too and they are young people.

WB –
Remember that Nole himself was advertising Pepe’s way. He rear ended a car in Marabella driving a hearts festooned Pepe loaner.
Some little Fiat. Maybe the new love bug. I cringed when I saw that….

Actually Nole, Agassi dropped out of school while he was in eighth grade, he always regretted not being better educated, that is why is he on the mission with his foundation to open the schools for underprivileged kids so they can have proper education, so far he opened around 70 schools which is absolutely astonishing and for respect, great work by Andre and Steffi.

CF1,
I remember that, he was preparing for CC season in Marbella, I wonder how many people knew for Pepe before he put Djokovic family under his spell, even in Spain, any Spaniards here that can tell us??

Thanks, great article and summarized it nicely, very thoughtful writing, but the mystery remains, what’s is the cause of such behavior.

Few weeks ago, on one Serbian forum, somebody, obviously well educated and qualified, said there is solution and Nole can be again old Nole, but only if he applies Kepner Tregoe Method?!

Since I never heard of Kepner Tregoe Method, I am not so educated, I went to find out what is excatly that and needless to say how simple but yet effective is that metod, old but not outdated, not by any means.

@Willow, this may sound perverse, but I think the exact opposite is the case.

Despite the best efforts of politicians and the media to scare us all into accepting erosion of our freedom in the name of security, not to mention military spending at the expense of health, most of us lead safe, pretty cushy lives.

I often take part in online arguments about gun control (I’m all for it), but although an absurd number of people are shot in America every year, most of the deaths are down to silly accidents or personal quarrels rather than terrorism. Yesterday’s attack in England is automatically suspected of being terrorist, in the present climate of fear and xenophobia, but it may well turn out to be something else. As someone said ((maybe Ben Franklyn),if we give up a little freedom to get a little more security, we’ll and up with neither.

Colin – please stay with your tennis commentaries. At least you are not totally off the reservation like with this:

“Yesterday’s attack in England is automatically suspected of being terrorist, in the present climate of fear and xenophobia, but it may well turn out to be something else. As someone said ((maybe Ben Franklyn),if we give up a little freedom to get a little more security, we’ll and up with neither.”

You would think if any country should, Britain would have a better grip on the idiot “Blessed Diversity Only Makes Us Better” trope. The Scots Protestant Transplatation w/ 44 years of Irish Troubles? The conclusion of both the departing Brits and the natives that the forced diversity of colonialism hurt both sides in many lands where the Brit colonists could never find peaceful coexistence with people resistant to the West’s norms and values and culture. Namely all the Middle East & Africa. So why replicate the colonial experience by getting the same sort of people together again?
“Of COURSE it is extremely probable that the concert bomber/mad car driver is an Islamist” what any normal person would think. A leftist not well equipped in situational awareness or solid mathematical reasoning capacity would say (ignoring the agnostic Tim McVeigh was 20+ years before 3,000 Islamist terror bombings that came after) -“what about Timothy McVeigh??” Even, “what about Guy Fawkes??”
I worry the sports arena is as soft a target as a concert hall for the radical Muslims and future groups that will follow their tactics if history credits the Islamists with some victories. Battlefield, in the minds of Elites that are intimidated and become pro-Muslim, and if they win victory in the demographic wars in several nations and write the history from then on.
Hopefully tennis games will be a refuge, just like concerts should be and watching beautiful women on the beach, not least my partner.
But I don’t think we make things safer anywhere by demanding everyone say how they love “the vast majority of peaceful, innocent Muslims” everytime a bomb goes off and flesh flies. How much the West needs more Muslims and more Saudi money to build mosques to convert others.
And no, we don’t stop it by dropping Teddy Bears in bloodstains, lighting candles, mumbling the words to sappy pacifist 70s song creeds, Non-muslims hugging one another talking about a “senseless tragedy”.

Guns are not killing, people are killing.
Australia has strict gun control, but yet the killing are everyday reality, drive by shooting…
The black market is doing well, you can buy any gun you want as long as you have money, and I am talking about country with 23 million people and no common land borders with any other countries, much easier to control what comes to the country.
Can you imagine country like America with 350 million people and common border with Mexico, it would be paradise for arm smugglers, they would welcome strict gun control and ban with open arms.
Nevertheless this tragedy that happened in Manchester has nothing to do with gun control, due to PC people are avoiding to call a spade s spade, as it turned out, it was hime grown terrorist and how many more “sleepers” ready to be activated to blow themselves up when needed you have throughout UK and Europe, scary to think!
You didn’t have this problems while “dictators” Sadam, Asad, Gadaffi were running their countries the only way they could be run, and apart of Libia, they were the only secular countries in that part of the world, religion was expelled from the running the countries, yet you (the west) destroyed them and created chaos and anarchy. How shortsighted and wrong you were.

On the second thought, if there is peace in the world Mr Trump wouldn’t be abe to sign 300 billion dollars arm deal with “democratic” regime of S Arabia and many other contracts with many other “democratic” countries…my last political comments, promised.

Maybe instead of salivating over the crowd cheers and the off court nonsense, he can focus on Agassi, his “father”.
Djoker obviously wants to be treated as a child, and that humiliates the fans.
He thinks he needs a childhood and father again.

Even when he doesn’t fight on court, he deceives, and exaggerates his anger & sadness.
The idea is to do the natural behavior and mighty tennis thing on the court instead of being a fake that he claimed he didn’t desire to become.
He dove into the shallow phony territory, sort of like when Agassi went nuts and resented tennis so much despite acting like he loved everything for the cameras.